Getting Better All the Time 3.18

techno-phobia

those darn kids today...back in my day we had email and we liked it. Evidently kids today don't like the email.

Am I gonna have to set up some Facebook or MySpace account just to keep in contact with my childrens? And by the time I finally figure that out, are my childrens going to be plugged into google.telepathy or Microsoft Psychic ?

What's an old man to do?

truth in fiction

How important is it for an author to be factual?

I mean, it is fiction that they write. I know that Zorloc was very frustrated at the opening sequence of Lost. MyBetterHalf is currently peeved with a TV show.

I'm sure that we all have watched something, and had a friend interrupt saying, "that's not the way it happens" with a law, doctor, military...TV show. And usually I respond that fiction needs a suspension of disbelief. But how much of one?

I have heard that Mr. Tom Clancy is very good at getting the facts in his books correct. But didn't Mr. Stephen King say don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. And I'd rather read King than Clancy.

I sort of feel that if the author is too lazy to be correct about something...then what else is the author being lazy about?

I've decided that the next time someone says, "I don't read fantasy, it's not realistic" I will reply that most fantasy is just as realistic and consistent as the TV dramas that are out there.

I don't know much, so most things don't bother me in fiction. Then again, I don't watch shows based on kitchens, seriously, why relive that? TV is for relaxing. But I hear from my friends that most of the time there is a computer in a TV show or movie it's usually completely wrong.

I guess if you know the author is wrong about something, you start to not trust the author, and who wants to sit around listening to someone who can't be trusted.

Hats off to New England Patriots for their perfect season. I hope their only loss in the post season is at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks.

funny with the childrens

A few minutes ago, me & Mr. Grunty were doing an "aaaahhhwwww" duet. But then it was funny so we laughed.

Last week, Miss Squeaky thought the word "poo" was very funny.

presidential musings

I did say, more than once, "all I'm asking for in the next presidential election is two articulate candidates." When was the last time that happened? Was it Reagan vs Carter? Because Bush, Gore, Kerry, Bush weren't articulate. BobDole almost was, but kept refering to himself in the third person.

So, if I may, I would like to have an andendum to my presidential wish list.
(Following the styling of Zorloc, but not nearly as well thought out)

1) State's rights. I am a big fan, got me to like BobDole, even though not sure if I voted for him or not. But on alot of issues. I'm getting a little sick of everybody using the Commerce Clause as a justification for the federal government to be interferring with the states. If Oregon wants Physician Assisted Suicide and legalized marijuana, fine. If California wants to make car manufacturers make cars with better gas mileage / less polluting, fine. If Alabama thinks 150 days of school are enough for a child, fine. If Lousisiana wants to have drive through margirihita huts, fine. If Montanna wants a highway speed limit of 120 miles per hour, fine, I can get through Montanna faster. Here's the thing, there is no right answer, alot of issues are best handled locally. And, especially with education, if you have 50 states doing different things, you have 50 experiments going on, and hopefully the states can learn from each other.

2) Iraq. Seriously, what is your plan? Be creative! How about this, engage with Iran on the issue. Iran and Turkey both have a vested interest in a stable Iraq, because they don't want Kurdish freedom fighters roaming the boarders.

3) Drug war. Time to rethink that fiasco.

4) Can you control the budget? How? Because if Congress is the same party as you, they'll spend my tax dollars like a debutant with daddy's credit card.

5) Social security. My generation basically feels we ain't ever gonna see a dime of it. Can we quit paying into it already?

...I'm sure there's more...

12/27/07

Tonight when I got home, the childrens were busy playing. Miss Squeaky in a swing, pulling on a toy that lights up when you pull on it. Mr. Grunty in the exer-saucer, smiling and banging a rattle all around.

The day care says that Mr. G talks more than Miss S. Yeah, a lot more we've noticed. It makes me kinda glad they are working on different things, maybe they can teach each other, and also it feels that one baby is not behind the other in overall development.

Tonight, after second supper, Miss S and I played some peek-a-boo. She found it funny.

tonight whilst the childrens were napping, instead of doing something usefull
(clean house, chores, eat, shave, shower, sleep)
I was playing solitaire.

I just don't know about me.

better musicians

there are bands that don't change...
AC/DC, Bon Jovi,...

there are bands/musicians that change styles...
Madonna, Tori Amos, U2, Miles Davis

there were bands/musicians that evolved and became better musicians
U2, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Who, SleaterKinney, Beethoven

Are there any bands out there now that got better from album one to three?
Or, the only way you get signed is by having a lifetime to write your debut album, and then you are messed up by the industry?

I think it was George Thorogood that said you don't get better playing guitar after your first two years. I don't think I have been able to prove him wrong.

photo phun

Well, it's not as good as Ansel Adams, but making this photo sure was way fun.

It started when I had a pumpkin, pineapple, and pomagranit sitting on the counter...and then I just kept laughing as I added more stuff.

x-mas dinner

well, this time I did not burn my tongue tasting the stock. I think I like making stock. I nice way to be busy for 10 hours. There is so much food left over. Too bad I don't really like turkey.

Oliver kitty clawed & hissed at my dad, and while my dad was holding Mr. Grunty so I could punish Oliver, Mr. G started crying.

Miss Squeaky was good at ripping open presents. And then trying to eat the paper.

Me & my little sister talked about Harry Potter.
My other sister is still pregnant (due Dec 30th).

NBA stuff follows...

oh yeah...Dec 25th, when I consider the NBA season to begin. This years x-mas day games weren't that interesting to me.

Heat-vs-Cavs...yawn, Heat is a has-been team.

Lakers-vs-Suns...I wouldn't care, and I would've guessed wrongly that Suns win.
(How far can Kobe take his rag-tag bunch of teammates? that I could care about. And remember, Kobe redeemed himself this past summer playing for TeamUSA.)

Sonics-vs-Trailblazers...supposed to be the first meeting of the #1 & #2 draft picks. To bad for Portland that their pick is out for the season. To bad for the Sonics that they are horrible this year. Hats off to Coach McMillian, Portland's season was supposed to be a throw away season. WHY did the Sonics let him go?!?

Babies 1st Christmas

Yay!!
(Seriously, I got my double present of joy back on June 12th)

And, it is even snowing on Christmas Day!
After a full moon X-mas Eve.

The turkey has been deboned and spiced, the stock is cooking, I haven't burned my tongue.

We haven't checked on what Santa brought yet, or opened presents, but I can say that I found my favorite pink hat!
(pink hat can be seen here)

babies 1st x-mas eve

I got home from work, noting the beautiful full moon, to two very different babies.

Mr. Grunty was taking a nap next to his mommy, had his arm stretched out, and hand on her shoulder, as if to say "it's OK mommy, I'll protect you". So very cute. MyBetterHalf agreed, and that's why she couldn't sleep, she was too busy staring at our cute son. He's getting bigger, I can almost envision what he will look like in five years.

Miss Squeaky was hanging out and playing with grandma. She was happy enough to hug me when I picked her up, but soon turned and pushed away, as if to say, "I'm busy papa, I got work to do."

How quickly things change in the forest.

Mr G woke up and was happy to boisterously tell us stories.

Miss S has been screaming & fighting sleep for the past three hours. Arching the back, punching clawing, kicking. Now she's asleep on my lap, because when we put her in her bed, she quickly wakes up, energized to fight sleep again. Maybe she is wanting to see Santa.

yummy carrots

today the childrens had their first vegetable
Carrots
(some might say "yay, no chlorophyll")

Miss Squeaky seemed to enjoy this more than rice cereal. Or maybe she's getting better at swallowing her food. And she had lots of fun getting it on her chin, her face, her hands, her clothes, and smearing it on the high chair.

Mr. Grunty likes the carrots. Some did dribble down his chin, but for the most part, he's an enthusiastic eater.

I kinda think we should teach the childrens some sign language. Rumor has that should start at month 7. I heard from a friend that's doing it with their daughter, that the child is very excited to be empowered and communicating. Now, would the day care providers have to be on-board with the plan? Or would this just be childrens way of communicating with parents. Although, I suppose, the more its done, the better it will be. And when should we give solid foods for daycare? Because, seriously, it's a mess.

Speaking of, now is a time for me to grow and mature and become more patient. Children's messy hands make me very nervous, I do not like sticky walls, or furniture, or books, or belongings. But as Miss S showed, it's fun to play with the food. Right now, it's easy, because they are confined to high chair while eating, so we can clean them up after eating. But soon, they will have more freedom, and the range of the mess shall be far and wide.

In case you were wondering, Oliver kitty is still a spaz. This morning he was racing to and fro...running along the vertical back of the love seat, climbing up the kitty tower, jumping from top of tower to top back of love seat, then leaping into hall way and skid/scampering around the corner to begin the loop again.

top of 2007

Hey sports fans, what were your favorite stories of the year?

A few interesting ones to me:

A kid was shot and killed at my alma mater.
Sonics got Kevin Durant in the draft, and built around him, they're on track for the worst record of the franchise, but the kid is supposed to be good. Hopefully PJ gotten better as a coach with a stint in San Antonio. (PJ is known for inspiring his players to strangle him.)
Sonics owner confesses to original intent to move team to Oklahoma.
Huss-keys lose Apple Cup to Wazzu. (yeah....I'll spell their name right when they play right)

Sometimes when a professional critic agrees with me, I get a bit of validation.
Time.com says:
#3 song "Umberella"
It was a potential GBAtT song of the now back in June

#9 song of the year "Potential Breakup Song"
Which was my December 1st, Song of the Now

#1 album, Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
Miss Winehouse had the song of the now back in June

Now this is a heck of a sports play, almost cartoon like.

And Time's #1 medical breakthrough of the year, Circumcision can prevent HIV.

Right now, Sophie kitty is helping MyBetterHalf wrap presents. Sophie was laying on the wrapping paper, and MBH had to cut off a piece for Sophie to lay on. And now, when ever the paper is near her, Sophie will loungingly reach out a paw and hold the wrapping paper in place. Such a helpful kitty.

is football bad for boys

Me & MyBetterHalf say that Mr. Grunty likes to watch football. And it is a cute way for my son and his mommy to spend time together.

But is it bad for him?

Recent research says that "...shows like violent cartoons or football can make children more aggressive..." Interestingly there "was no association for any type of programming with anti-social behavior among girls."

read about the research
read the research article if you can log into Pediatrics

Should football watching in our house be a "girls only" thing?

is it under your bed

"Is it under your bed?"
The famous snarky question parents ask their children.

I'm starting to see why. The other day I asked MyBetterHalf where all the pacifiers are. Well, I just found four under Mr. Grunty's bed.

Wash Your Hands

A public service announcement from GBAtT.

After hanging your x-mas lights, please wash your hands. On my x-mas lights box:

"Handling the coated electrical wire on this product exposes you to lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm."

thanxies to my mom for passing the info to me.

I hope I haven't poisoned my babies. I don't think so. Now it's kinda funny/sad that Cali finds lead exposure bad. Uh...don't we all know lead exposure is bad.

uh-oh...looks like I can only connect 3 sets end to end.

news of the childrens after the break

the other day, while changing her diaper I pinched Miss Squeaky's owie from her vacination shot.

Mr. Grunty is getting a bit too strong to be holding onto my pinky, I think soon he'll be strong enough to snap it

Eating styles - with rice cereal

Miss S is good at opening her mouth, taking the food off the spoon, and letting it drip down her chin.

Mr. G likes the cereal, as long as either his mommy or his grandma is feeding him.

the past couple of night the childrens have been sleeping long into the morning, getting up around 7:30. They will generally/sorta sleep through the night now, maybe once or twice wake up and then be soothed when a parental puts a pacifier in their mouth. Now to teach them how to find their pacifier in their sleep.

So? should we give them mittens when they sleep to keep their hands warm, because their little hands are icey in the morning. (the rest of them is bundled nicely, their feet, nose, ears are warm) I've heard best not to keep room too warm for SIDS prevention, although to be honest I haven't seen in journal articles or research summaries. But, with the mittens, it seems to me that they will just soak the mittens when they chew on their hands in their sleep, so then they wake up with cold mittens.

Mr. G is playing more with toys in his hands. Miss S can pass a toy from hand to hand.

Miss S is still very good at gargling stories. Mr G will flap his right arm in excitement when telling stories. He has included pitch variation and teradactyl calls in the stories.

At night time, when we put them in their sleep sacks, they are pretty good about falling asleep. We have a ritual. We somehow have to start the reading to them ritual.

We asked about Miss S reaching developemental milestones before her brother at the doctor visit, and heard, "that's classic. Girls develop faster." It does seem Mr. G has a bigger vocabulary, and eats cereal better. But for moving around, hand eye coordination, Miss S is better.

babies 6 month Dr. visit

I got to be the hero today and get the childrens from daycare. They were sleeping, it was nap time. But when they woke up and saw me I got huge smiles.

For most of the visit they were very well behaved, smiling, sometimes talking a bit, laughing...but eventually it was feeding time, and they got hungry. About the same time we had to give them shots. It is a good piece of information to know what they sound like when they are being jabbed. There is surprise in their voice and a bit of inhalation before they start screaming at us in anger.

stats...because I know you want 'em
Mr Grunty is
80% for weight
93% for height - getting tall & thin
94% for head - yeah, we knew this from the trouble getting some shirts on

Miss Sweaky is
55% for weight - yay, above average, she might catch up with her brother
45% for height -
42% for head - I'm told not to worry about this

They grown at a good pace / rate. So no worries there.

Quote of the day, by a friend at work, "you are a bigger nerd than I thought" when I showed him my excel graphs of the babies feedings habits with trend lines and r-squared values.

hi

Hey there sports fans.

I tell you what, today's was a depressing football game to watch. Evidently the Seahawks had a bit of a momentum let down after last week clinching the NFC west. I am always amazed when an offense has nothing for most of the game, and then in the last minute can come up with a meaningless touch down so that it looks like it was a close game. Hats off to Matt Moore, in his first NFL start as quarterback.

So...my better half was still sick.
My mom & lil' sister came up to visit, and helped with the twins. It was nice to not do dishes for a day. (Thanxies Mom!)

Mr. Grunty is learning new sounds. He has been imitating dinosaur sounds very enthusiastically, and has really gotten some high pitched screeching in.

We gave them some soupy rice cereal. Miss Squeaky gladly opens her mouth for the spoon, closes her mouth on the spoon, and then lets the cereal drip down her chin. Mr. G is a bit better at eating.

in other geeky news

We went to annual Tiki-Lodge white elephant party last night. I got rid of some nice wood shelving brackets that I got like 2 years ago at a white elephant party and haven't used. I got a TSR Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules box set, from 1981. It even has the cheap plastic dice you had to color in to read the numbers. I know! Who would want to get rid of that?

from the introduction:
"The original D&D rules are a classic. They gave the first gaming system for fantasy role playing and, in my opinion, are still the best set of rules on the market. When I revised the rules I tried to maintain the spirit of the earlier rules.

In the half-dozen years since the original rules were published, the TSR staff has answered thousands of rule's questions. The answers helped find problem areas in those rules, areas which could either stand minor improvements or were difficult for novice gamers to understand...."

Interesting trivia...the classes are: cleric, fighter, magic-user, thief, elf, dwarf and halfling. Yup, elf, dwarf and halfling were classes. And they had a limit to how high they could advance in their class. Gold was the only metalic dragon.

During the Annual Reading of the Rules, I said "Amen" from the corner of the room after every rule was read. I don't think anyone found it funny.

Happy 6 months Babies!

tonight was supposed to be the night that we started the childrens on eating food.
But, here's the thing, remember how they were sick last week. Well, they feel better. But we think they gave it to their mommy. I don't think they really get the concept of x-mas gifts.

So maybe they'll start tomorrow night.

party season

Hey, wait a minute, didn't I like, promise to blog more or something now that NaNoWriMo is over?

Well...here's the thing. The inter-web & computer was broken for me at home. I choose to blame a certain "Small" and "Not Hard" company. (Although I could have been something I did. I guess it is my fault on some level, because I did buy a PC.)

Oh, and the babies were sick this week. So they would wake up every few hours because of difficulty breathing w/ all the snot....poor babies. They're mostly better, but still have stuffy noses.

We partied our little booties off this weekend.

A dressy cocktail party on Friday night. Yup, I can still fit into the suit I wore at my brother's wedding back in '98. We took the children's and fed them dinner in the corner at the party. People would come over and say how cute they are. It was nice. The friendly doggie, Clyde, would visit and try to eat a bottle cap and really wanted to lick the babies but was well behaved.

Saturday, a work party. We got to this one late, because we fed the babies first. And because I was left in charge of getting them ready while my woman was out getting A hair cut. Mr Grunty fell asleep after a bit. Miss Squeaky was very tired, but the girl likes her parties, and tried so very hard to stay awake. At the end of our visit, she was really groggy, but if someone said "hi" to her, she would perk up, and smile real big as if to say, "Isn't this a wonderful party. I'm so glad you're here." A nice couple held Mr. G & Miss S while we parents went and got food, it was very strange not to be holding on to my babies, like I was missing something. Quote of the evening, "oh, you have twins? I better start cutting you some slack!"

Today. Yay! Seahawks are got their fourth consecutive NFC West championship.

Today, we had a brunch get together with support group folks. It is fun to be with a bunch of other parents that have kids about same age as ours. See how things are going, what advice to get, what advice to give. And there was bacon. Tasty bacon. I couldn't believe I got the last piece. I am always amazed at how well behaved all the babies are. And lots of people got to hear one of Mr. G's "Mr. Grunty and the 104 bears" stories. Miss S did some talking to. I think our babies were the most talkative of the bunch.

song of the now

As I get older, I gain more of an appreciation of pop music. I know, too much ear candy will rot my musical teeth...but I don't care. These songs are so sweet they can just be slurped up and easily digested.

GBAtT song of the now

"Potential Breakup Song" by Aly & AJ
I so heart this song...just fun to sing. And the bass makes me giggle.
and who can't appreciate lyrics like
"Now all I want is just my stuff back
Do you get that
Let me repeat that
I want my stuff back"

the runner up song of the now
"Crush crush crush" by Paramore
the song is decent, lyrics don't make much sense, but the delivery of:
"Rock and roll baby, don't you know that
we're all alone now
I need something to sing about"
I find very alluring.